The Guy From Kentucky
by Estrella
Summary: To a guy in Kentucky, I'm Mr. Unlucky. So said Jack in his beloved song. But have you ever wondered just who this guy is? What did he do to have the Pumpkin King single him out? Well, here's my take on it.
1. Mister Colby Seeks Help

Author's Note: I can't believe how big this story got. Heck, even _I_ thought the premise was a bit dumb at first. But, I went with it and I'm glad I did. Billy's become one of my favorite characters to write for, and I get the feeling he has fans out there. Well, time to get this official re-editing job started.

The Guy from Kentucky

There is a place in the Real World which is home to a certain Mister William Colby. Better known as Billy to his loved ones, Mister Colby has struggled with a problem for many years. Normally, such a man as William would be considered perfectly fine. At six feet, four inches tall, he almost towers above others with ease. His brown hair, which usually falls over his brown eyes, has only just begun to thin. Unfortunately for Mister Colby, that was not his worst problem. No, this native of Wolf Creek, Kentucky has worse things on his mind. One day, he decided to do something about it.

It was autumn, close to the end of October. The leaves on the trees were turning different colors and falling to the ground. The side street where Doctor Flaherty's office was located was a perfect place to see the foliage. That was what the receptionist, a slender blonde named Rosie, was doing the moment William Colby walked inside. When he asked her if he could see the doctor, she turned to see that the man was pale, even sweating. His eyes seem to dart about, as if expecting something to jump out at him at a moment's notice

"Goodness, you look like you've seen a ghost," she said in a pleasant tone.

"I wish," William replied as he wiped his brow with a rag.

"Do you have an appointment, sir?"

"No, but I need help. It's almost Halloween."

"I'm sorry, sir, but we don't control the calender here."

"You don't understand. He comes for me every Halloween."

"Who would that be?"

"Just let me see the doctor, please. You'll just think I'm crazy."

"I already do, honey," the receptionist said to herself as she pressed the intercom on her desk. "Doctor Flaherty, are you free now? There's a man here who wants to see you immediately."

"As a matter of fact, my one o' clock canceled. Send him in, Rosie."

"Door at the end of the hall, you can't miss it."

William nodded in response and walked into the corridor. He briskly walked to the end, where he opened the large wooden door. The first thing he saw was and old-fashioned psychiatrist's couch with ebony legs and a dark red cushioning. The elder man sitting in the chair next to it looked up at the door and smiled at him. Doctor Flaherty stood up, held his notebook under his left arm, and extended his right arm in greeting only to see Mister Colby lie on the couch at once.

"Well, you certainly know the routine, Mister... what was your name?"

"Colby. William Colby. Or Billy if you please."

"Hello, Billy. I'm Doctor Flaherty. What brings you to my office today?" asked the doctor as he sat back down.

"It's Halloween, Doc."

"You don't like Halloween?"

"It's what happens to me every Halloween that I don't like. _He_ comes for me."

"Who does?"

"I don't like saying his real name, so I just call him Mr. Unlucky."

"Could you describe this Mr. Unlucky to me?"

"Well, he's tall. Almost taller than me. He wears a black suit and a tie made out of a bat. He's a skeleton, you know. Spooky looking and-"

"Pardon me, but did you say 'skeleton'?"

"That's right. He's a skeleton."

"Skeletons are remains, human bones that cannot harm you."

"You tell that to Mr. Unlucky."

"I'm sorry. You mean to say that an undead skeleton comes after you every Halloween?"

"Exactly! I don't know why either. I'm the only one who can see him, you know."

"I see," the doctor said as he wrote notes. "When did this begin?"

"Back when I was about fifteen or so, and I'm thirty-five now. Shoot, that makes twenty years of being visited by this creep. He's making my hair recede early," Billy said as he grabbed his thinning hair.

"What has he done to you?"

"Every horrible thing that's happened to me on Halloween was on account of him. He's worse than black cats, opening umbrellas in houses, and walking under ladders combined."

"Well, I don't have time to listen to every single year of this, er, unlucky streak of yours. Start with the earliest time you saw your Mr. Unlucky and then proceed to the worst of the worst."

"Alright then, doc. Hold on to your hat, because my stories are doozies."

What on Earth has Jack done to this guy? Or better yet, what did this guy ever do to Jack? And will the doctor send him to an insane asylum as soon as he's quiet long enough? Only time and more chapters will tell. Here's to multitasking! (Re-edit comment: Heh heh, I'm still multitasking at times.)


	2. The Night of the Curse

Author's Note: Wow! You actually think this concept is going somewhere? Oh happy day! I'm not being sarcastic, so don't worry about being patronized. As for any grammar problems... it's the commas, isn't it? I'll try to cut down on them, but they're so addictive. See, I keep using them in sentences! Anyway, William "Billy" Colby, Doctor Flaherty, Rosie, and anyone else who appears in this fanfiction and not in the movie is mine. Yes, they're all mine. Jack Skellington and any other characters, places, and references pertaining to the film belong to the many people who own parts of "The Nightmare Before Christmas." I'd write all them down, but I'm feeling a little lazy today. So if I may, I would like to present more of Mister Colby's disturbed life. Oh, and before I start, I'll write cues to signal that you are traveling in and out of Billy's past. That's all of it, I promise. (Re-edit comment: Wow, that disclaimer was long. Sorry, guys.)

"You mentioned that you first saw Mr. Unlucky at the age of fifteen?" Doctor Flaherty asked before Mister Colby could begin.

"That's right," he said, raising one eyebrow. "Why are you writing that down?"

"Just a note for any future references."

"Oh. Alright then."

"Where were you when you first saw him? Who was you with?"

"I was going to the cemetery with some friends."

"On Halloween?"

"Just some stupid teenage stuff."

"I see. Carry on then."

Billy- Past

At age fifteen, Billy still had not reached his height yet. Nonetheless, he was still taller than his friends, Ray and Luke. They were three regular teenage boys out for a night of fun. All three considered themselves to be too old to trick-or-treat, yet too young to completely ignore this holiday. So, they did what any teenage boys without any parental supervision or girlfriends would have done. They decided to mess with spirits.

"Luke, I'm not sure about this," Ray said nervously as his eyes darted back and forth. "I don't like dead people."

"Dead people can't hurt you. They're six feet under and ain't going anywhere," Luke replied. "Hurry up, Billy. My grandma can walk faster than you."

"You try carrying all this stuff!" Billy exclaimed as his tall yet husky figure caught up with his two friends. "Why do we need a Ouija board anyway?" he asked Luke, motioning to the backpack he wore.

"We can't conjure anything good if we don't have one."

"Next time, you're carrying the stuff."

"Stop whining, carrying that bag's doing you some good. We're already here anyway."

Luke stood in front of two rusty iron gates swinging on their hinges. The sign above them stated "Wolf Creek Cemetery," the perfect place to find the souls of the dead. Luke smiled to himself as he led his friends into the graveyard. They walked past tombstones and mausoleums until they found a lone grave in a clearing. It was here they decided to set up camp.

Using some wood they collected earlier and matches, Billy managed to light a fire on top of the grave. The light illuminated the faces of the three boys. Ray had green eyes, blonde hair, and a very anxious look. He clearly did not want to be in a cemetery on Halloween. Billy's brown eyes gazed lazily at the fire. He smoothed his messy brown hair in boredom before looking through the bag again. Luke was the only one who seemed happy to be there. His blue eyes showed a devilish spark behind his glasses. He also seemed impatient, and nearly yelled at Billy before he produced the Ouija board.

"About time."

"Hey, not my fault Ray stuffed the bag with chips."

"Give me some of those," Ray said. When Billy seemed to take too long, Ray grabbed the bag and dug through it himself.

"Dang, boy. If you eat every time you're nervous, you'll weigh a ton at Christmas."

"Shut up, Billy."

"Can we hurry this up already?" Billy asked Luke. "I don't feel like spending the whole night here."

"Fine. Everybody grab the planchette."

"What the hell's that?"

"The thing that reads the letters, Ray. Try not to get chip grease on it."

After Ray wiped his hands on his jeans, he joined the others inusing the planchette. They tried contacting any random spirit, but nothing came. A few minutes turned into half an hour, then an hour. Billy seemed to grow more frustrated every second. When Billy took his hands away from the planchette, Luke was outraged at his lack of respect to the spirits.

"Hey! You can't just leave that."

"Watch me. Forget you two, I'm egging people's houses."

"What about the spirits?"

"In case you guys haven't noticed, there are no spirits."

"That's a relief," Ray sighed.

"I'm not going to waste my entire Halloween getting someone who doesn't exist."

"That's what Halloween's about. Ghosts and spooks and scary things."

"Luke, I don't believe in all that mumbo jumbo," Billy flatly stated. "There are no such things as ghosts or any other stupid things you believe in."

"What about that time we saw a werewolf in the woods when we were in seventh grade?"

"That was just Emma Lyn Anderson's huge dog. You know it and I know it."

"If you're so sure about nothing paranormal ever existing, why don't you say it on this grave."

"Guys, can we break it up? No need to disturb the dead people."

"I will!" Billy exclaimed, ignoring Ray as he stepped onto the end of the grave. "I, William Colby, do not believe in ghosts, demons, spooks, or any critters of the night. I also think a holiday that follows them is the stupidest thing I've ever heard of in my life. The only good thing about Halloween is getting candy and playing pranks on people. Everything else sucks. Satisfied, Luke?"

"Nope," Luke said. "I dare you to put a curse on yourself."

"That's going too far!" Ray exclaimed.

"Curse on myself? How do I do that?"

"You know, say your name again and say a punishment for yourself if you're wrong about this," Luke said.

"Alright. If I, William Colby, am wrong about this whole thing, may the most terrifying spook who ever lived, died, and rose from the dead haunt me till my dying day. How about that?"

As soon as Billy asked the question, a clap of thunder answered him. It suddenly began to pour. Luke and Ray figured this was a sign from the spirits and ran out of the cemetery screaming. Billy laughed at them and decided to pack things up and ignore the rain. He was about to pick up the Ouija board when he noticed the planchette starting to move. Billy figured it was just slipping from the rain until he saw that it stopped on the letter "H" and then moved to the letter "E".

"What the hell?" Billy asked as he watched the planchette move by itself. "Hello Billy?"

Billy backed away from the Ouija board only to bump into something. At first, he thought it was a tombstone, until he felt the back of his head touching it. Billy gulped as he started to look up. That was when he saw two large eye sockets staring back at him. They belonged to a white skull which seemed to be grinning at him. Billy saw a large bony hand wave at him before he completely lost it.

Billy panicked and ran out of the graveyard as fast as his legs could carry him. He left the backpack in the cemetery, but no longer cared about it. Yet every corner he turned, the black-suited skeleton man was there. When he hid in an alleyway near the shops in Wolf Creek, he found the skeleton already waiting for him. When he tried to run home, the skeleton blocked his way. Even as he made his way to the police station, he could sense the skeleton behind him. That was why he was ranting and raving when he finally got there.

"There's a skeleton after me! I was out in the cemetery and I think he rose from the dead to kill me. Please get rid of him, I'm too young to die!"

"You were in the cemetery?" asked the policeman behind the reception desk.

"That's right."

"Hey, Joe! We have a confession!" the policeman yelled, sticking his head over to the open door next to his desk.

"What do you mean?"

"A groundskeeper complained about kids your age messing around in the cemetery. We'll call your parents and figure out an appropriate punishment for you. Now sit down and warm up, you're soaked."

"But the skeleton, he's out there waiting for me," Billy said as he looked out the window, only to see heavy raindrops falling against the glass.

Billy- Present

"That night, my parents grounded me until New Year's for disturbing the peace. The police dropped the charges, thinking being traumatized from hanging around the dead was enough."

"It seems to me that you _did_ do something to offend Mr. Unlucky," Doctor Flaherty said.

"Alright, so what if I did? I was a kid then, a dumb kid."

"Perhaps guilt of fighting with your friends created this skeletal figure of yours."

"Nope," Billy said. "He's still after me and I haven't talked to Luke and Ray in years."

"Are you sure this curse isn't just all in your mind?"

"Were you around a couple of years back when the high school Halloween Show became a big old fiasco?"

"I read about it, yes."

"He was there that night."

"Mr. Unlucky caused that mess?"

"Well, only because he likes following me around."

"Do tell," Doctor Flaherty said as he turned a page in his notebook to write even more notes.

So, what did happen in that Halloween Show? Can Billy figure out what Jack wants from him before he goes completely insane? Can it be that this is all really in his head? Find out in the next chapter.


	3. Backstage Drama

Author's Note: You are all so very nice! I appreciate the reviews and encouragement all of you have given me. I also apologize for not getting this chapter out sooner, for I needed to tweak some things here and there. As it has been stated before, I do not own The Nightmare Before Christmas. No, that was created, marketed, and proudly presented by minds far more imaginative than mine. This little collection of blurbs is mine. I also proudly present it :).

"Wait a minute, Doc," Billy said as he sat straight up. "Don't think I stopped seeing this weirdo until I was eighteen, because I didn't."

"Now, Billy, we agreed to review only the most pivotal encounters with this 'Mr. Unlucky' of yours," Doctor Flaherty said.

"I know, but for those notes you're taking, I'd like to set the record straight. When I was sixteen and learning how to drive, he just appeared crossing on the street with all the other trick-or-treaters. I swerved and hit a fire hydrant. All the water frosted over that night and Main Street was impossible to travel."

"That was you?"

"No! It was his fault."

"Anything else you would like to add before we get to this Halloween Show your school performed?" the doctor asked as he wrote more notes.

"When I was seventeen, I took Polly Sanford to a movie. Dang skeleton was in the theater! Just when I think it's the usher poking me for a ticket before the show starts, the rascal grins at me. Grins!" Billy yelled, shaking with the memory. "Being that it ain't normal to see skeletons in movie theaters, I screamed my head off. Polly left the theater and never called me back. Then she started telling people I was insane."

"So far, I have your initial trauma, car accident, and ruined romantic prospects as effects caused by this apparition. Is that correct, Billy?" asked Doctor Flaherty.

"Yes," Billy said as he lay back down on the couch. "Now, about that Halloween Show."

Billy- Past

Wolf Creek High School seemed to come alive every autumn. It always brought the Senior Halloween Show, a pageant revolving around Halloween. As always, the senior class was ready to leap at any chance to show superiority among their fellow schoolmates. Only one in particular dreaded this day.

By now, Billy had lost his belly, perhaps due to constant fright, and received a deeper voice. He reached his full height of six feet and four inches, but his maturity had yet to match his body. Throughout the first weeks of school he had protested this show. He called it an invitation to disaster to everyone who would listen to him. Unfortunately, Polly Sanford did quite a good job of convincing the entire student body of Billy's eccentricity. Hence, no one really paid attention to him. This made the night of the show even more uncomfortable for him than it was for anyone else. Not only was Billy aware of something strange about to take place, but he was the only one who could see it.

"Mister Colby, I suggest you pull that curtain instead of daydreaming on it," said an matronly older woman to the teenage boy as he hung on the drawstrings of the curtains.

"Yes, Mrs. DuBois," Billy said in a depressed tone as he pulled the curtains open and then closed.

"Doing alright, Billy?" Luke asked as he walked up to his friend.

"I didn't know there was a chicken in this show, Luke," Billy said in cynical tone, referring to the feathery yellow costume Luke wore and the plumed chicken helmet he held under his right arm.

"That makes two of us."

"You forgot Ray."

"He'd be here if he didn't throw up at the thought of large crowds."

"At least he doesn't see 'visions' like Crazy Billy Colby."

"Billy, get a grip," Luke said as he put on his helmet. "The show's about to start. See? Nothing bad's happened so far and nothing will."

"You go out there and make that farmer's daughter proud."

"Thanks. I think I'll get her number after the show," Luke said as he walked out on stage with other 'animals' to the attractive girl wearing a gingham shirt and long denim skirt on center stage.

When they were all in their places, Billy pulled the curtains open to the sound of applause. He watched as the actress said her line. Apparently, this year's pageant was based on a 'Wizard of Oz'-like story. A bored farm girl and her animals get lost in an endless pumpkin patch and meet a strange array of creatures until she finds the King Scarecrow who practices the magic of Halloween before taking her home.

He was not supposed to show up until halfway into the play. However, Billy sensed someone behind him as the play started. He turned around to see a tall male wearing a ragged outfit and what appeared to be a pumpkin head. This had to be the boy playing the King Scarecrow. He was early, too early. Billy did not like this one bit.

"What are you doing? You can't go on stage yet," Billy said in a harsh whisper.

"Me? On stage?" asked the muffled voice underneath the pumpkin head.

"Yes. You're one of the stars, George."

"Did someone say my name?" asked another voice.

Billy panicked at the new voice. He looked past the person he was just talking to and found that George, the King Scarecrow, had just walked into the backstage area. Billy stared at the boy who had his pumpkin mask taken off. He then looked to see the person he was talking to before. He started to remove the pumpkin head, which seemed to stick to his face before the head came off completely. All that Billy saw was a bony stump of neck on a tall body.

"He's back! Oh dear God!" Billy screamed.

"Shut up! The audience can hear you." George said, noticing the unnatural silence coming from the auditorium.

"Oh! I'm stuck. This is quite embarrassing," said the skeleton's head from inside the pumpkin. "Perhaps you can help me before we get down to business," it continued as the body lurched toward Billy, who was now holding a sandbag.

"Get anywhere closer and I'll take you apart!" Billy said as he aimed the sandbag.

"You really are crazy."

"I'm not talking to you, George. I'm talking to the skeleton."

"I don't see one."

"He's standing right in front of me! How can anyone else not see him!" Billy yelled as he threw the sandbag at the figure only to miss.

However, the sandbag did a lot more damage than Billy imagined. It quickly became intertwined with other sandbags. Their combined weight started to mangle the scenery. The pumpkin patch scene vanished to reveal students who were working as crew members. The actors on stage forgot all of their lines at this sight and could not proceed with the play. To make matters worse, Billy had been tugging at the curtains nervously after discarding the sandbag, which caused some of the actors to start bowing or just leave the stage.

That was when the audience began to laugh. The senior class had lost all the dignity it had tried to build up in their three previous years in one night. People who had sacrificed their Halloween night to support the students asked for refunds at the door. Mrs. DuBois claimed that this was the worst theatrical experience she ever had in her life and promptly quit being the school's drama teacher. But the most awful thing about this whole situation was that Billy was forever labeled as "The Guy Who Ruined Halloween". No matter how hard he tried to tell his side of the story, no one bothered to listen.

Billy- Present

"Mr. Unlucky was right there, and only I could see him," Billy sighed.

"This George, did he ever back you up?" asked Doctor Flaherty.

"Hell no. He was the first one who blamed me."

"You're positive you saw this stalker of yours that night?"

"With my own eyes."

"I see," Doctor Flaherty said as he pressed his intercom. "Rosie?"

"Yes, Doctor Flaherty?" asked his secretary.

"Cancel my three-thirty."

"Are you sure? Mrs. Smith is a good client. She's as full of problems as her purse is with money."

"Reschedule her for tomorrow then."

"Alright then," Rosie answered as Doctor Flaherty turned off his intercom.

"Billy, I'm afraid you have me intrigued with this relationship of yours."

"Relationship? Hell, Doc, I want to get rid of this guy, not move in with him."

"And I want to help you. What else has happened to you, Billy?"

"Lots, Doc. Let me just say it's a good thing you cleared your schedule up."

Uh-oh, what other things have happened to Billy? Is all of this really Jack's fault? How unlucky can one guy be? Find out next time. (Re-edit comment: Well, the show had to go on. Such a shame Jack lost his head over the whole ordeal.)


	4. Why Billy Shouldn't Drink

Author's Note: Now that I got my other story finished, it's time for sole focus on this one. I also appreciate every review I've gotten. You are all so supportive, it's great! Anyway, The Nightmare Before Christmas is a whimsical stop-motion animation film based on a poem written by Tim Burton. It's music was composed by Danny Elfman, who also provided the singing voice for Jack Skellington. The film was shown through Touchstone Pictures, a subsidiary of the Disney Company. There are presently plans to use the movie as a basis for a video game by Capcom. This story goes on a completely different tangent from all of that. I hope you enjoy it.

"Why do you say that, Billy?" asked Doctor Flaherty.

"Well, there was this one time in college that Mr. Unlucky really spooked me. I think that's when he told me his name for the first time too," Billy said.

"Was there any alcohol involved?"

"Come on, Doc!"

"Billy," the psychologist said darkly.

"Well, maybe a little," Billy admitted. "But I was twenty-one then. That's perfectly legal. Besides, I saw him when I was nineteen and twenty before then."

"If you feel those encounters can back up your stories, then you can mention them briefly. But remember, I have to focus on only the most important of these meetings with your Mr. Unlucky."

"I know, I know. So when I was nineteen, I went to a Halloween party the campus was holding, thinking that I'd be safe in a crowd."

"Let me guess, he was there?"

"Damn straight! I give my coat to someone and it's him. He waved and smiled like we were old buddies before I grabbed my coat and ran further into the crowd. I felt him following me, but I didn't care. I tackled this poor girl to the floor. It turned out she was the girlfriend of the leader of the fraternity. He didn't appreciate me tackling his girl, so he and his friends gave me a good beating. I tell you, almost nothing's as weird as getting beaten up by guys dressed as super heroes."

"That might influence some subconscious thinking patterns," the psychologist said as he wrote down notes. "Losing trust in authority or thinking what is supposed to be protecting you is actually hurting you. Go on."

"The next year, I was in my dorm studying for a test when I heard noises outside my room. When I went into the hallway, the door locked behind me. I banged on it to wake my sleeping roommate, but he wouldn't wake up. Someone tapped me on the shoulder, and I thought it was someone to help me open the door. It was Mr. Unlucky again! I ran clear to the other end of the hallway, but he seemed to get there before I did."

"What did you do?"

"I jumped out the window."

"Excuse me?"

"I was only on the second floor anyway. Heck, you'd do it too if a skeleton was after you. I'd rather have a broken arm, which I did. The cast I wore for the Halloween party later was a real one. Hurt like hell, but at least I was still alive."

"How peculiar. You'd rather jump out a window than face this thing?"

"Well, I proved that once."

"I guess you did, then," Doctor Flaherty said as he jotted down more notes. "Now, what happened on your twenty-first Halloween?"

"It was the first time I could drink at a party. I guess I had one too many, and ended up in the wrong place."

Billy- Past

College gave Billy a good life, except for that one particular day of the year when everything went wrong for him. A major beating and a broken arm later, Billy was much more wary of Halloween than ever before. Still, now that he was twenty-one, he was not going to let anything ruin his first real party. Not even Mr. Unlucky could stop him tonight.

This party was being held at the fraternity house. Lee Evans, a blonde, hazel-eyed football player and fraternity brother, was Billy's roommate. Even if Billy had a brush with the fraternity brothers before, Lee was not about to let his friend miss out on this gathering. After much persuasion and reminders that Billy could legally consume all the alcohol he wanted, Lee finally got him to go along.

"Welcome, my friend, to real adulthood," Lee said to Billy as they surveyed the scene in front of them. "Why the long face?"

"He'll come for me. I know it. He always does," Billy said gloomily.

"You have to lay off the hallucinations. If you see horrible things without taking drugs, I'd hate to think what the real users see on their trips."

"He's real, Lee."

"No, Billy. _This_ is real," Lee said as he passed a beer to Billy. "Not too much now. You don't want that skeleton guy you see to get friends."

"I'll be fine," Billy said before taking a swig of beer.

Poor Billy had no idea what was in store for him. The beer gave him a nice buzz, a warm feeling he had missed for all these abhorrent Halloweens he had. Therefore, he had more, and more, and more. He became the stereotypical man with the lampshade on his head before he completely passed out on the dance floor. Billy blacked out for quite a while. When he woke up, he was no longer among his friends and classmates. Instead, he seemed to be on a bed in a dark room with an bag of ice on his head and blankets covering him. He could vaguely make out music, but there was something else he was focused on.

At the edge of the bed was a figure sitting down. Billy couldn't make out any features of the shadowed person. It was very dark and his vision was already a little impaired from the drinking. His hearing, however, seemed to be recovering. He could hear this person, a man, speak to him. Billy didn't know whether it was the alcohol or his imagination, but this man was familiar to him.

"Oh, you're awake," he said.

"Where am I?" Billy asked groggily.

"In the place where everyone throws their coats."

"How long have I been here?"

"Not too long. The party's still going on. My, you all seem to enjoy yourselves on this day." he said proudly.

"Who are you anyway?"

"Well, it is rude of me not to introduce myself. My name is Jack Skellington."

"Thanks for bringing me here, Jack. I bet if I stayed out there, I would have been the laughing stock of the entire party."

"Oh, I didn't bring you here, but it's nice to see you're finally coming around."

"Around from what?"

"Oh, you know."

"What are you talking about?" Billy asked before hearing voices.

"Billy? You ok, buddy?" Lee's voice asked as the knob began to turn.

"Oh no," Jack said. "Listen, whatever you do, please do not panic."

Billy never got a chance to ask Jack why he would panic. When the lights were switched on, Billy saw who he was talking to. Jack Skellington _was_ the creature after him. Billy immediately jumped out of the bed and ran out into the hallway hyperventilating. He then proceeded to run through the party and out of the fraternity house screaming. He had heard Lee trying to tell him something, but he was too busy trying to save himself. It was only when he was outside that he noticed something was off.

"My clothes! Where are they!" Billy yelled as he shivered outside in his underwear.

"Billy, I was trying to warn you!" Lee exclaimed as he ran out of the house. "You kind of threw up all over yourself when you passed out, so some of us took your clothes off and put you in the coat room. Some girls were washing your clothes and they werefinished when I went to wake you up."

"Look! That drunk guy's in his underwear!" someone yelled from the frat house door.

At that point, Billy could see dozens of pairs of eyes look at him. Then, everyone began to laugh. Not only did he get drunk, but Billy had also run out of the house screaming in his underwear. This was too much for everyone. Billy became the crazy man on campus in one night. This night would stay in his mind and everyone else's for quite a long time, much to his dismay. Every time he walked in the halls, people would giggle behind his back or run past him mock screaming. Once again, Mr. Unlucky had ruined Billy's Halloween, and once again, only he could know the truth.

Billy- Present

"Strange, it seemed to me that Mr. Unlucky was being nice to you," Doctor Flaherty said.

"That's what he wants me to think. Then, when I don't see it, BAM, there goes my soul," Billy said nervously.

"His name is Jack Skellington?"

"Yes, and please don't mention it. I hate that name."

"Fine. I get the impression that 'Mr. Unlucky' wants to tell you something."

"Well I don't want to hear it. Every time he's shown up it's been nothing but the worst luck imaginable."

"How much worse can it get?"

"Well, when I was twenty-five, I was supposed to get married."

"Supposed to?"

"Yes. But the day she chose was Halloween, and well, you know what happens on Halloween."

"Mr. Unlucky ruined your wedding day?"

"He sure did."

"How is that possible?"

"Oh, it's possible. Don't worry, Doc. I'll tell you all about it," Billy said with a heavy sigh.

Jack ruined a wedding? How did he do that? What is it that he has to tell Billy that keepshim reappearing over and over again? Only time and more chapters will tell. (Re-edit comment: Poor Billy, making a fool of himself. Well, karma got Jack back in its own way during The Nightmare Before Valentine's Day.)


	5. A Love Best Forgotten

Author's Note: Welcome back to another chapter of Billy Colby's haunted life. This story is based on a line in a song featured in the movie The Nightmare Before Christmas. The film was based on a poem by Tim Burton while the song was composed and sung by Danny Elfman. Touchstone Pictures, part of the Disney company, distributed the movie we've all come to know and love. Also, for those of us addicted to video games, there will be a game based on the movie made by Capcom. Those are the people who deserve compensation for their work. I'm doing this strictly because I love this film in all of its forms. Thank you and read on.

"I'm sorry, but this is baffling," Doctor Flaherty said.

"Sure is. I'm the guy who lost his bride," Billy said. "Of course, Mr. Unlucky made his little visits to me in the three years prior to that."

"What happened?"

"Well, Doc, I thought we were only looking into the _important_ stuff," Billy said in a sarcastic tone.

"Apparently, every visit you've had with Mr. Unlucky is important."

"Heck yeah. Why, when I was twenty-two, he showed up in my film class. Second time that skeleton followed me into a movie."

"He was in your film class?"

"We were watching a horror movie in celebration of the holiday. When the class was over, he was sitting in the seat in front of me. Of course, I freaked out and fell onto the aisle shouting at him. Everybody started laughing at me and the professor made me go to the Dean's Office. The dean sent me to take a psychological exam with inkblots and everything."

"Did you ever get the results of that test?"

"Come on now, Doc! I'm not crazy. That exam said so. I just have a curse. Mr. Unlucky's out to get me until my dying day, which he'll probably cause," Billy said, face getting redder as he talked.

"Calm down, Mister Colby," the doctor said. "There's no need to be angry."

"Oh, I have a need. When I was twenty-three, he visited me in my apartment."

"Your apartment? You immediately moved out on your own after college?"

"Yeah. Big mistake too, because it burned up that night."

"Your apartment caught on fire after Mr. Unlucky visited you?"

"Well, I was cooking some dinner when I heard a voice in the living room. When I went there, he was waiting for me, he even blocked the door and everything! This guy was hell-bent on getting my soul. So I jumped out the window and down the fire escape. See, I was a little too busy saving myself to turn the stove off."

"So your dinner must have caught on fire and burned your apartment. How unfortunate."

"Damn skeleton. He just won't leave me alone. The year after that, I was stuck taking my sister's kids out trick-or-treating. They were about four and seven at the time, and they begged for me to take them out. I tried not to go, but it looked kind of silly for a grown man to be afraid of Halloween, so I did. Mr. Unlucky was watching me the entire night. I could feel him spying on us every time we passed bushes or crossed dark streets."

"That didn't sound too bad."

"It wasn't, until I turned my back for a second. I look at the kids and Mr. Unlucky's standing right behind them, looking like he was about to pounce. So I grabbed both of them and high tailed it to their home. When I got there, I realized I was missing my wallet. It had everything in it, my week's pay, my driver's license, even the pictures of my niece and nephew. By the way, they hated me for a couple of months for taking them home so quickly. And I can't even tell you the days I spent in line at the DMV trying to get a new license."

"What a nuisance," Doctor Flaherty said.

"Yeah, and I never got a thank you from my sister's kids for saving their necks either."

"Waiting for gratification could add to your mental stress," the doctor said as he wrote down notes. "Now, what happened on your twenty-fifth Halloween?"

"One of the worst days in my life. I mean worst of the worst," Billy said in a more serious tone. "I don't even know where to begin.

"Well, you can always start with your bride-to be."

"I met her the year my apartment burned up. Her name was Cassandra."

Billy- Past

Cassandra Sinclair was the most beautiful girl Billy had ever set his eyes on. They had met during the winter holidays in the rush to Christmas shop at the last minute in the year Billy had the apartment fire. Both had grabbed a toy they intended to buy for a child in their families. Neither of them let go for a few moments. At first, it was out of competition, but they found out they had more interest in each other than a popular toy.

Cassandra was about five feet, seven inches, a good height to match Billy's. She had long dark brown hair that stopped shortly above her waist and a honey brown gaze. Her complexion was a bit pale, but that could have been due to the fact she wore black most of the time. Cassandra was an artist, she loved to paint and usually had her work shown in minor galleries. Billy was intrigued by her career based on what he considered a hobby. Billy himself was more logical than artistic, but he still appreciated her artistic flair and even went to some of her shows.

Cassandra, or as Billy called her, Cassie, was everything he wasn't. While Billy tried to be as normal as he possibly could be, Cassie was proudly funky and offbeat. When they went out together, people didn't get the fact they were a couple until they had to say it, but neither Billy or Cassie cared. As far as they were concerned, as long as they were loving and true to one another, they would be just fine. Yes, Billy wanted to marry this girl and always have a bit of excitement in his life. However, there was a kink in his plans he had not expected.

"Billy, you look nervous," Cassie said as the couple walked together in the park nearly a year after they met. "Still worrying about the wallet you lost?"

"Not, it's not that. Cassie, can I ask you something?"

"Sure, go ahead."

"Well, we're both young and have a lot to look forward to, you have your paintings and I have my office."

"Actually, that makes one of us," Cassandra said sarcastically before seeing the serious look on Billy's face. "You know I'm kidding, Billy."

"Anyway, I was wondering if you'd look forward to your future with me."

"Excuse me?"

"Cassie, I love you. I love you very much. You make life so interesting. I don't think I'd be able to live without hearing you make a wisecrack about someone or without watching you paint. Cassandra Sinclair, I would very much like for you to be my wife. I would be true to you and cherish you every single day, as I do now. So, please, Cassie, tell me if you feel the same way."

"You know, William Colby, I had you pegged the wrong way. I thought you were by-the-book and straightlaced, but here you are talking marriage at twenty-four years old. I knew there some kind of craziness in you, and with luck, I'll get all of it by the time we're older than dirt."

"Older than dirt?"

"Yep. I accept your proposal on one condition."

"I'll do anything you wish, as long as you'll marry me," Billy said eagerly.

"Alright. I want to get married this year, on Halloween," Cassie said dreamily.

"What?"

"It's my favorite day of the year. It always has been and I've never considered any other day to marry."

"In that case, we better start planning," Billy said with a chuckle, hiding the utter terror he felt down to his bones.

Of all women Billy had to fall hopelessly in love with, it had to be one who loved Halloween. Still, Billy would bend over backwards to please his dear Cassandra. This included the likely chance of meeting Mr. Unlucky at the altar along with his bride. It was a chance Billy was willing to take. However, he seemed to forget that the day of the wedding, when he looked at himself in the mirror of his dressing room and looked around to see if he was alone or not several times.

"I can't believe I'm doing this." Billy said to himself before catching his breath and opening the door.

"About time you left that room," said his best man, Luke. "Hurry up, it's the bride's tradition to be a little late, not the groom's."

"Can you blame me for being nervous. I'm surprised _he_ hasn't shown up."

"I didn't know you invited your hallucination."

"He's real, Luke. Heck, you're the one who set him on me."

"Oh come on, that was just a stupid dare I made you do when we were kids."

"Well, that stupid dare worked."

"Listen, you shouldn't be freaking out like this on your wedding day. Get to the altar soon before Ray starts hyperventilating about the crowd."

With that, Luke shook Billy's hand and went up to the altar. Billy would have followed him, except he had to look at himself in the mirror one last time. He wanted to look perfect for his future wife. When he was done straightening his tie and making sure his hair was fine, Billy turned to face the door. Only this time, he wasn't alone.

"Oh no!" Billy exclaimed. "What are you doing here!"

"Well, I fit the dress code," the skeleton said jokingly.

"Get out of here."

"But I still haven't talked to you."

"Sure, talk. Listen here, Boney, my soul's staying right where it is. Is that enough talking for you?"

"Billy, will you calm down? You don't want me to restrain you, do you?"

"You're not taking my soul!"

"I was afraid you wouldn't listen to me. Well, if you won't listen out of your own accord, I'll have to make you listen."

Billy watched as the skeleton held his hands out. Dark swirls seemed to form around them. The swirls began to form into something material. They were long and metallic chains. Mr. Unlucky was going to chain Billy down and probably take his soul then. Billy was not going to stand for this, so when Mr. Unlucky reached for him, he ran out of his room and into another.

"Billy? What are you doing?" Cassie's voice asked as Billy locked the door behind him.

"I can't marry you." Billy said nervously. "Not today, not ever."

"What did you say?" Cassie said as she turned around and looked at Billy in the eyes and clutched her wedding dress anxiously.

"I can't marry you."

"If this is about seeing me in my wedding dress before the ceremony, it's only a superstition."

"No. Cassie, I'm a cursed man. There's someone after me at this very moment, and I know he'll probably take my soul away if I leave myself open. He might hurt you too."

"You're acting crazy."

"I'm serious! Listen to me, if I marry you, every Halloween, a skeleton will come after us. This guy will try to kill us and will probably succeed."

"This has to be the worst excuse for canceling a wedding, William Colby."

"It's not an excuse, it's the truth!"

"Oh sure, and Santa Claus really exists, right? I knew you were a little odd, but I didn't think you were completely insane."

"_I'm_ insane? At least I have a steady job!"

"I thought you liked my art."

"It's fine, if you had a real career to add to it."

"At least I do what I love instead of toil at some office day after day!"

"At least I don't have to go days without starving!"

"Oh yeah, well I don't make up a stupid story just to get out of marrying someone!"

"It's the truth!"

"You just go on believing that, you nutcase."

"It's more believable than most of the stuff you paint!"

"That's it! I'm not going to stand here and have my art insulted any longer," Cassandra said as she took off her engagement ring and threw it to the ground. "You sir are too boring and closed-minded for my tastes. I'm twenty-five and can wait many more years before getting married to someone better than you. That is, if I even marry at all. Goodbye, Mister Colby. I wish you many happy years with your skeleton."

Cassandra went on to slam the door on Billy, leaving him alone with the only remainder of their once happy relationship. As Billy picked up the ring, he cursed Mr. Unlucky. Why couldn't he have skipped one year and allow Billy happiness? Or worse, why had Billy even told Cassandra about Mr. Unlucky? He could have found a way to work things out without her ever being at risk, but it was too late. Cassandra Sinclair had walked out of Billy Colby's life for good, and he had no one to blame but himself.

Billy- Present

"She went to New York City after that," Billy said. "Cassandra made her art into a job after all."

"Judging from your argument with her, I don't think your marriage would have worked out at any rate," Doctor Flaherty as he wrote some more.

"I still had a chance to be happy. Mr. Unlucky saw to that being ruined though. If he never showed up, I wouldn't have freaked out and gone into Cassandra's dressing room."

"You make a good point, Mister Colby."

"You'd think he would have stopped after that, but he didn't."

"I suppose not."

"He's going to haunt me until I die."

"What about that thing he wanted to tell you?"

"Oh, he's always babbling about that. Like that time I got arrested for robbing a bank."

"You robbed a bank?"

"No, but the cops thought I did. Believe me, Doc, that was Mr. Unlucky's work too."

"Was it, now?" Doctor Flaherty asked before Rosie buzzed in on the intercom.

"Doctor Flaherty, Mr. Jones is here to see you."

"Can you reschedule him, Rosie?"

"But, Doctor, he's a very _important _client. One who happens to run a large business downtown."

"For tomorrow, Rosie. Mister Colby is still in need of my assistance."

"Yes, Doctor." Rosie said in a depressed tone as her voice buzzed out.

"Now, where were we?" the doctor asked in an interested tone.

How did Jack take part in a robbery? Or, better yet, how did Billy get mixed up in a robber in the first place? How much more torture can one man take? Find out in chapters to come. (Re-edit comment: I made this guy's life a living hell. Cool.)


	6. The Odd Couple

Author's Note: I love this time of the year. Halloween's my favorite holiday. Unfortunately, poor Billy Colby just can't seem to enjoy it. Then again, he's being haunted. Billy's Mr. Unlucky is Jack Skellington, the main character in The Nightmare Before Christmas. There are many, many people who took part in the making of that film and subsequent references to it, but right now, I just want to give more of the story. I think we all know who's who, am I right? (Re-edit comment: The ending to this disclaimer was brought to you by... laziness!)

"I was going to tell you about the robbery," Billy said. "But then I'd be skipping over two years of Mr. Unlucky. Do you mind if I keep going, Doc? I know you have plenty of people's heads to fix and all."

"No, Mister Colby. You go right ahead. Tell me all you want to say," Doctor Flaherty said.

"Alright then. Well, let me just say that it's great talking to someone who isn't trying to send me to the loony bin."

"Thank you, Billy. I appreciate the comment."

"Anyway, the year after the whole wedding fiasco, I was out at a bar with some friends. Everything was just fine and dandy until the lights went out. So, of course, no one saw Mr. Unlucky when he came for me. I turn around and he's sitting one stool away from me. He gets up and starts trying to tell me whatever he wants to say, but there's no way I listened to him. I got up and threw my barstool at him. Then, the lights came on. It turned out, I hit Bubba with the stool instead."

"Bubba?" Doctor Flaherty asked.

"He was this big guy who was a regular in the bar. Bubba also used to wrestle, really wrestle. Bubba was not too happy to have a barstool land on his stomach, so he and his boys beat the crap out of me. I was in the hospital for a week."

"The sight of Mr. Unlucky made you incite a barroom brawl?"

"I didn't mean to," Billy grumbled. "It was dark and I couldn't see well. How was I supposed to know Bubba was standing next to Mr. Unlucky? Anyway, that wasn't as bad as what happened the next year."

"In keeping track, this would be when you were twenty-seven?"

"Yep. That year, my friends talked me into going to a Halloween party for old time's sake. Like the dimwit I am, I went along with them. We never even got to the place. Our car broke down and we had to stop at this motel off the side of the road. Of course, Mr. Unlucky seemed to have a room there because I saw him. Now, by this point, I was just angry. I started yelling at him, screaming and making a huge fuss until the manager had to get me. I had woken up the whole motel, friends included. So, he did what any manager did, he kicked us out. We drove around all night, but we didn't find another vacant place. We slept in the car when we gave up looking. After that, my friends dumped me and called me a real basket case."

"You haven't spoken to them since?"

"Nope. No Ray, no Luke, even Lee Evans stopped talking to me."

"Even after all of that, your Mr. Unlucky continues to visit you?"

"Oh yeah. It's like I've been saying, he wants me dead to take my soul. I'd rather do anything than just give him my soul, even going to jail, which I did, by the way."

Billy- Past

At twenty-eight years old, Billy became one of the most neurotic people in, if not Wolf Creek, all of Kentucky or even the United States. The odd thing about Billy's problem was that it only happened once a year. However, that once was enough. So was taking all of this torture from Mr. Unlucky for years. This year, Billy was prepared. He was dressed all in black in case he needed to sneak into dark alleys. He wore crosses, carried vials of holy water, even bought a silver bullet, although, he lacked a gun. Tonight, Billy was going out in public for Halloween and he was going to enjoy it, dammit!

"Hey, mister, who are you supposed to be?" a boy dressed as a scarecrow asked as his group of trick-or-treaters passed Billy on the sidewalk.

"Johnny, you know better than to talk to strangers," a woman dressed as a vampire scolded him. "Look at him, he looks insane," she continued as she hurried the group away.

"I can't believe this," Billy said to himself in a flat tone. "Even if Mr. Unlucky isn't here, people think I'm nuts. Oh well, I guess things could be worse."

Billy could not have put his situation in better words. For at that moment, he was walking into one of the main intersections of Wolf Creek. The corner of Peach Street and Main Street was home to the First National Bank. As the bank came into Billy's view, he heard a loud shriek and gunshots. Out of the bank came a group of five men in clown costumes. They all piled into a gray van and drove off as the police cars turned the corner. At this sight, a strange thought came into Billy's mind.

"Hey, if I help the cops catch these guys, then I'll get respect from people. People won't call me crazy anymore," Billy said.

"Not if you talk to yourself," said that horribly familiar voice Billy had come to know so well.

"Why, of all times, do you choose to show up now!" Billy exclaimed as he turned to face the skeleton man.

"Well, at least you're not running away screaming your head off," Mr. Unlucky said with a wide grin. "We've made great progress!"

"Fear the cross, demon!" Billy exclaimed as he showed one of the crosses to the skeleton.

"Billy, you seem to have me confused with a vampire."

"Then take some of this," Billy said as he threw holy water on Mr. Unlucky.

"Once again, I am not a vampire."

"What _will _kill you?"

"Kill me? My friend, I'm already deceased."

"I'm not your friend, Mr. Unlucky."

"Did you just call me Mr. Unlucky?" the skeleton asked with a slight chuckle. "What a charming nickname. I'll have to tell the folks at home about that one."

"What folks at home?"

"Oh, don't worry, you'll meet all of them," Mr. Unlucky said as he grabbed Billy's right wrist.

"Wait a minute! Listen, I never thought I'd say this, but I need your help."

"You certainly do. I've been trying to-"

"Whatever you want to do to me can wait. I can at least die with some dignity."

"Billy, this is all a misunder-"

"I'll do whatever you want if you help me take down those clown thieves."

"Does that include listening to me?"

"Anything, just no soul taking, Mr. Unlucky."

"For the record, my name is Jack Skellington, and yes. I think we'll make quite the team, Mr. Colby."

"Just don't use any of that creepy stuff on me."

With that, Billy reluctantly shook the hand of who he considered to be his mortal enemy. Then, they were off. Jack and Billy searched every area they could. They kept their eyes and sockets alert to anything suspicious. The pair found their suspects sitting on the curb outside the park, laughing and celebrating next to their van. Billy dragged Jack underneath a hedge when he saw them.

"What did you do that for?"

"So they don't see us."

"Well, they can't see me. No one can, except you, and for a good reason."

"One you can tell me once we bust these guys. No go on and do that spooky stuff you like doing."

"Alright, but then will you let me talk?"

"Hurry up!"

Jack shook his head and sighed. Then, he jumped out of the bushes and hopped on top of the van. Billy saw the heads of the clown gang members look up at the noise and then shrug to themselves. However, that was all he could make out. Jack started to form a fog around the men at that point and lowered himself to their level. If Billy couldn't see their fear, he could definitely hear it. Each man screamed as if faced with his worst fear. Billy could make out forms stumbling blindly in the fog and hear screaming for help. After a while, the fog lifted, and Jack was standing around unconscious forms lying on the ground. Billy came out of the bush he was hiding in and walked to the skeleton.

"What did you do?" Billy asked in amazement.

"I clouded their minds with their worst possible fears. It works every time," Jack said proudly. "Now, about our-"

"Wait a minute," Billy said as he heard something. "Is that a siren?"

Jack never got a chance to answer. When Billy looked back next to him, Mr. Unlucky was gone. However, a large group of police cars found their way to him. Every police officer stepped out of each car aiming for Billy. Billy shakily put his hands up and a pair of officers forced the van open.

"There's the money. The thieves seem to be out of commission." said one of the cops.

"Not exactly. Look at this one." said the chief of the precinct, who walked right up to Billy. "I smell a rat."

"Is there a problem, Officer?" Billy asked.

"How is it that you happen to be in the middle of five collapsed thieves?"

"I'm in the wrong place at the wrong time?"

"Search him." the police chief ordered.

"Hey, watch it!" Billy exclaimed as he was searched.

"Chief Higgins, we found a bullet in his jacket." said an officer. "That along with some crosses and holy water."

"I needed that to ward off Mr. Unlucky." Billy said, immediately regretting what came out of his mouth.

"We always get crazy people at this time of year. But you sir, have to be the worst. We can't have people like you roaming the streets. Take him downtown."

"But those are the thieves!" Billy exclaimed as he was handcuffed.

"You're no better. You assaulted these men and tried to take the money for yourself."

"How do you know that?"

"You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law." Chief Higgins started.

Billy was taken into the jail that night, having convinced the entire police force that he was a crazy religious zealot who attacked the thieves in order to take the money for himself. The only person who could back him up was Mr. Unlucky, and he himself said only Billy could see him. Billy did see him as he was being driven away. The skeleton looked at the police car with a look of pure guilt on his face. Billy, however, was convinced that this was all an act. How stupid he was to have fallen for Mr. Unlucky's trickery. Now, he had a long, long night in the downtown precinct to look forward to, all thanks to that damn skeleton.

Billy- Present

"I think that whole incident is still on my record," Billy said. "I'm not so sure anymore, though."

"What a story," said Doctor Flaherty. "To think that you actually worked together with your Mr. Unlucky."

"That was a once in a lifetime shot there. There's no way I'm doing that again."

"Do you still fear him, then?"

"A bit, but I just plain don't like him. I know when he shows up something terrible's going to happen. I'm hoping that death isn't the next thing."

"You mean to say that you're expecting Mr. Unlucky to bring your death?"

"Well, death is worse than what happened to me when I was thirty-one. You try being lost in a desert on the scariest night of the year."

"Why were you in a desert?"

"Let's just say it was a business trip gone bad. Really, really bad."

Why was Billy going into a desert anyway? What horrible things can happen to a guy in a desert? And just what is Jack so desperate to tell Billy anyway? Find out in more chapters. Happy Halloween to you all, and thank you for your continued patronage. See you next time.


	7. Don't Mess With Zero

Author's Note: Sorry for the major delay everyone. For the record, grades and applications are evil, but that's enough about that. The Nightmare Before Christmas is a wonderful film based on the poem by Tim Burton and enhanced with a score by Danny Elfman. It was put out by Disney through Touchstone Pictures in 1993 and has remained a classic ever since. Even now, Capcom is basing a game on the characters in the film. This story has nothing to do with any of that, but I hope you like it all the same. Thank you and enjoy.

"A business trip to the desert?" Doctor Flaherty asked. "What company do you work for?"

"Actually, I kind of lost my job a few years back."

"Oh. Well, what company _did_ you work for?"

"Well, I was supposed to go to Las Vegas," Billy said. "See, I started work for a big advertising firm downtown and we did business all over the country. Casino owners are great clients, they always need extra publicity."

"When did you start working there?"

"After I got out of that whole mess with the clown thieves. It was a nice place. Nicer than my old job after the whole thing with Cassandra blew over. I just couldn't show my face there around Halloween."

"Why not?"

"Well, when I was twenty-nine, I made the mistake of going to work on Halloween. I had this really important meeting with a client from the Big Apple up north and he was supposed to have made a deal with the firm for fifty million dollars. As you can probably already guess, Mr. Unlucky wanted to be part of the meeting too."

"He was in the boardroom with you and the client?"

"Yep. That skeleton made me nervous as hell. I could see him staring at me, waiting for the meeting to be over. So I stalled, a lot. The client must have gotten bored because he tried to leave as I was talking. When I motioned my hand over to him, it slipped past some hot coffee and it spilled all over him. He got pretty mad."

"Mr Unlucky made you scald an important client?" Doctor Flaherty asked as he wrote down notes.

"It was an accident. He didn't see it that way though. He freaked out and yelled at me and left for another place. Amazingly enough, Mr. Unlucky was gone too. He did his damage though. I got demoted for that mess."

"What a shame."

"Oh, there's more, Doc," Billy said. "I went to work the next year too, and that wasn't any better than the year before that."

"What happened that time?"

"Well, there was something wrong with the computer system that Halloween, so I went with a co-worker to check things out. Mr. Unlucky was the one doing it. I want into the main room and the door locked behind me. My co-worker went to get help and left me alone with him!"

"That must have been awkward."

"Yeah, awkward for him. I grabbed a fire extinguisher and tried to knock him out. Then again, that was a dumb idea. I broke every piece of equipment in that room. Of course, when help did come, Mr. Unlucky pulled his vanishing act and left me alone with all the damage. I got demoted for that one too. Heck, I'm surprised I wasn't fired."

"So am I," Doctor Flaherty said bluntly. "Perhaps that is why they sent you on a business trip to Las Vegas."

"Yeah, to get rid of me. Too bad it didn't work the same way for Mr. Unlucky."

Billy- Past

"Damn, not again." Billy said to himself as he drove past his exit for perhaps the third time in a row. "I hate these interstates."

Why, of all days, did this trip have to come during Halloween? All Saints Day? Fine. Fourth of July? That was ok too. Hell, Billy would even work the entire month of December if he could just get Halloween off. No, he just couldn't miss this opportunity. He had already been demoted twice, and this was a surefire way of moving back up the corporate ladder. As long as he got to Las Vegas and did the deal perfectly, Billy would be fine. Of course, this was Halloween, and a coyote running in the middle of the road Billy took when he finally got his exit was only the beginning of things.

"AH!" Billy yelped as he swerved off of the road, watching the coyote run along the path. "Stupid mutt!" Billy yelled as he tried to start the car again. "I can't believe this," he said when he saw the E on the scale of his fuel. "Well, time to get some gas," Billy sighed as he got out of his car, popped the trunk, took the empty gas can out, and made his way down the road. It was going to be a long thirty mile walk.

Billy was starting to show the signs of a man with frazzled nerves. At thirty-one, his hair was starting to thin and he had developed bags beneath his eyes which increased when October came each year. He was skin and bones, and everything Billy wore seemed to droop and sag on his frame. Even the suit he wore now was too long in some places for him. That was the least of Billy's worries now, though. He saw the sun begin to set, and he was nowhere near the gas station. Billy knew for sure he was going to miss the meeting, so he fell to the sandy ground and gave up.

"I don't feel like walking all the way back to my car," Billy said to himself in a tired tone. "There has to be somewhere I can spend the night."

"I know a place."

"Oh no!" Billy exclaimed as he got up.

"Hello, Billy," Mr. Unlucky said cheerfully. "Ready to listen now?"

"You get away from me. Haven't you tortured me enough?"

"Come now, Billy, let's bury the hatchet."

"That's not the only thing you want to bury," Billy said before noticing something hovering near Mr. Unlucky's left leg. "What's that thing?"

"Thing?" the skeleton asked as he looked at his left leg for a moment. "Oh, that's my dog. Say hello to the man, Zero."

"You keep your ghost dog away from me."

"See, you upset him," Mr. Unlucky said as the dog began to growl.

"I don't care! My life is in the toilet because of you and all you care about is your mutt's feelings? Listen, Mr. Unlucky, I've had it. You're never gonna take me alive, you got that?"

"I beg to differ. Alive is the only way I can take you."

"Forget it! Do your worst," Billy challenged, immediately wishing he hadn't said what he did.

"Very well. Zero, why don't you try that new trick?"

Billy watched the small spectral dog prepare itself for its "trick". It turned out to be a long, drawn out howl at the rising moon. At first, nothing seemed to happen. Then, Billy saw spirits come from the ground, coyote spirits. They growled at him, and began to bark at him as well. So, Billy did the first thing that came to his mind: run like hell.

For dead coyotes, they could run pretty fast. It is possible that Billy covered more area in this chase than when he ran out of gas in the first place. A small voice in the back of his mind told him that since they were coyote ghosts, they could probably do no real damage to him. Still, Billy didn't want to take that chance. He already took a chance by challenging Mr. Unlucky to do his worst and that worked out horribly. Right now, he needed to run, dodge cacti, and run some more. Amazingly enough, Mr. Unlucky managed to run right alongside him with his dog.

"Ready to talk _now_?"

"Are you crazy!"

"You're only making things worse for yourself."

"I am not going to let you take my soul."

"You're not still on that are you? That's why we need to-" Mr. Unlucky started before he crashed into a cactus.

"You can just stay there!" Billy yelled back at the now prickly skeleton as he continued his run from the coyote spirits. "There's got to some place I can lose them." Billy said to himself before seeing something in the distance. "There!" Billy yelled to himself in victory as his carried him there as fast as he could.

Billy ran into the building in the middle of nowhere and slammed the door. When he got a good look inside, he noticed something odd about this place. It was populated with mostly women, most of whom were wearing makeup and flirtatious outfits. Billy had to put everything together before he realized where he was. Billy was glued to his place on the floor as women crowded around him and giggled about their visitor. However, that was short-lived, as the door opened once again, this time to a horde of policemen.

"Nobody move! This is a bust!" yelled the officer.

Billy had run headfirst into a house of ill repute. Not only that, but it was being raided and he was a "customer" in there. Needless to say, his boss was not happy at all about Billy turning up in a bordello. He wouldn't take the Mr. Lucky Excuse this time either. Billy's boss bailed him out of the Nevada jail he was held in that night, but he was immediately fired. Billy left his job in shame, courtesy of Mr. Unlucky.

Billy- Present

"I swear, I had no idea _that _was going on in that place," Billy said to Doctor Flaherty.

"I understand, Billy," said the psychologist. "Nevada does have a of reputation for that kind of trade."

"Those damn coyote ghosts. Came from that stupid dog of Mr. Unlucky's."

"He really seems intent on telling you something."

"Yeah. He wants to tell me to close my eyes, relax, and give my soul away."

"Are you really so sure it's that he wants?"

"It has to be. Why else would he bug me for years and years?"

"I can't answer that question."

"Neither can I, Doc," Billy said. "What time is it?"

"About five. We've been here for around four hours."

"Wow. I'm sorry for tying you up, Doc."

"No, it's quite alright. Is there anything else you would like to share, Billy?"

"Well, the stuff that happened to me last year was pretty insane."

"How is that?"

"Well, how else would you describe it when a skeleton brings along three homicidal kids to help him collect a soul?" Billy asked with a knowing gleam in his eye.

Can it be? Did Jack enlist Lock, Shock, and Barrel to help him get Billy? How did the mortal ever deal with that? We're approaching year thirty-five, and the end of the tale in a few more chapters. Stick around and have fun reading :) (Re-edit comment: Whoa, I don't know how I came up with this chapter. Odd, very odd indeed.)


	8. Let's Make a Deal

Author's Note: Ding dong, the bug is dead! That means everyone can add to their stories, even me! Once again, The Nightmare Before Christmas is one of the spiffiest films ever. It came from Tim Burton's brainmeats as a poem, so it has a right to remain spiffy. Its spiffy music came from Danny Elfman, who is a master maestro. It was brought to the public by Disney and Touchstones Pictures. They were pretty spiffy once, but now, not so much. Now, the uber-spiffy Capcom is making a game based on the film and its characters. There, both the disclaimer and my fascination with the word "spiffy" are over and done with. Story time! (Re-edit comment: Spiffy spiff spiff! I just love that word.)

"Homicidal kids you say?" Doctor Flaherty asked Billy. "How do you know they were homicidal?"

"Oh, they were, Doc," Billy said as sweat began to appear on his forehead, "but I'd rather get to them after I tell you what happened before that."

"That's fine with me."

"Ok. When I was thirty-two, I got stuck taking care of my sister's kids again. They were too old to trick-or-treat, twelve and fifteen mind you, so they threw a party. Now, Doc, you know as well as I do that I was never too good at Halloween parties."

"I suppose not."

"With my sister leaving me to chaperone, she might as well have canceled the damn thing. Mr. Unlucky showed up right in the middle of it and I nearly tore the house apart trying to get rid of him. I kind of ruined the music, the food, the games, and anything that made the party a party. It ended way before schedule. The kids went home all disgruntled, but not before egging my car on the way out. My niece and nephew stopped talking to me for a while after that too. They said they became really unpopular in their schools."

"What a pity. Do they speak to you now?"

"Yeah, but they think I'm crazy."

"I see. Well, carry on."

"The year after that, I was visiting my cousin up north, he and his wife had a baby. Everyone in my family was going, and on Halloween too. It's like a cosmic joke on me."

"Where does your cousin live?"

"New York City. Nice place to go, just not when you're on the run from Mr. Unlucky. I spent the whole night jumping from cabs to subways and then some. Then, he cornered me on one of the bridges, I forget which one. Anyway, I jumped into the river and the cops dragged me out. I was in the hospital with pneumonia for a week. I made it on the news as some suicide case. People sent me flowers and stuff, even Cassandra stopped by."

"Your former love?"

"The very same. She scolded me for not telling her I was in town, then wished me better luck before meeting up with that beatnik husband of hers. It was their anniversary."

"How ironic."

"It's like Mr. Unlucky's rubbing everything in my face. Let me tell you, those little hellions he brought along weren't much better."

Billy- Past

There was no way in hell Billy was leaving the house today. Halloween had been nothing but trouble for him since he was fifteen years old. Every horrible thing in his life that ever took place happened on October thirty-first. Billy knew today wasn't going to be any different. He took every precaution he could take, from calling in sick to work to furnishing his home with bulletproof glass. Nothing was going to get him this time, nothing. At least, that's what he thought.

"This is pathetic, even for me," Billy said to himself as he lay plopped on the couch watching TV. "At least Mr. Unlucky isn't here. Maybe he finally got the clue," he finished as the doorbell rang.

Over the years, Billy developed a reputation for being 'The Crazy Guy who Hates Halloween'. Thus, children in his neighborhood stopped trick-or-treating at his place for at least five years. So, Billy was very troubled when he heard the doorbell. He carefully got up, walked to the front door and looked through the peephole.

Billy could make out three children on his doorstep. The one in the center had a very large, pointed hat, so he couldn't make out the face. Billy guessed it was either a little witch or wizard. One he could make out clearly was the one on the left. A boyish figure clad in red with what seemed to be a tail had to be a devil. As for the one on the far right, Billy could only make out black and white. He looked to be some kind of ghoul, maybe even... no. Billy was not even going to think the word 'skeleton' today.

"Hello?" Billy asked as he opened the door.

"Trick-or-treat!" the three exclaimed.

"Sorry, kids. I don't have any candy."

"WHAT?" exclaimed the boy who was dressed as, yes, a skeleton. "No candy on Halloween?"

"Man, no wonder he's in trouble," the devil boy said.

"Excuse me?"

"Nothing you have to worry about, yet," the witch told him as the three walked inside.

"Hey, you can't just come in here!" Billy exclaimed as the door shut.

"Don't worry. They're with me," Mr. Unlucky said as he leaned against the door, shutting it with his back.

"Oh no. I am NOT going to let you all just waltz in here and take my soul. You get out right now. All of you."

"Or what?" asked the devil boy.

"I'll call the cops on you. Then you'll be known all over the country, the world even! No one will ever think I'm crazy again."

"You don't have candy on Halloween. You _are_ crazy."

"GET OUT!"

"We can't go without you," said the girl as she took off her mask. "Jack said so."

Billy's mouth dropped wide open. When the other two children took off their masks, he knew for sure he wasn't just seeing things. The faces of the children matched their masks down to the final details of nose and eye shape. These were no mortal children. Billy did the first thing that came to mind in this situation, he ran to the phone to call for help. However, by the time he got there, an axe had cut it in half.

"Sorry, we can't let you get everyone else involved in this," said the devil boy.

"Lock! What did I tell you about weapons?" Mr. Unlucky asked.

"Don't bring them unless necessary?"

"You let them play with weapons?"

"Oogie Boogie does. It's a long story I'm sure you'll enjoy hearing along with everything else," Jack said. "Did either of you two bring weapons as well?"

"Well, you know how the living people are, Jack," the witch said with a hint of a snicker.

"Besides, Lock said we could get his soul better if he was dead," said the skeleton boy.

"I knew it! You ARE after my soul!"

"No, I'm not. Lock, Shock, Barrel, you three will either listen to me or go home!"

"Sorry, but Oogie Boogie wants a real soul as a treat this Halloween, and we all know how he gets," the one known as Lock said. "Let's get him guys!"

Billy watched as the three children appeared to grab weapons from out of nowhere. He saw knives, guns, bear traps, arrows, small bombs, and at one point heard a chainsaw. Billy ran upstairs screaming and locked himself in his room only to find he wasn't alone. It turned out that Mr. Unlucky was hiding from the trio as well.

"Those three! I knew I should have checked their pockets."

"Find your own hiding place!"

"I'm terribly sorry for all of this. I should've have known they were up to no good when they volunteered to come with me this year," Mr. Unlucky said as a bomb was heard going off downstairs.

"Who are they?" Billy asked, amazed that he asked Mr. Unlucky a question that actually contributed to a rational conversation.

"Lock, Shock, and Barrel, the best trick-or-treaters in existence. Such a shame they to work for Oogie Boogie though. They are getting no guidance from him."

"Do I look like a shrink to you? Get the hell out of my house," Billy said, regaining his usual anger.

"Not until you have heard what I need to say," Jack said as the soundof the television being chain-sawed in half overpowered his voice.

Billy saw this was going nowhere. His house was being destroyed by three murderers in training who were practicing for him. Mr. Unlucky was still babbling about that thing he wanted to say and Billy knew what he had to do. If he and his house were going to survive this Halloween, he had to make a deal with the skeleton.

"Hey, shut up for a minute," Billy said to Mr. Unlucky. "I'm more than willing to listen to you, but not with those kids rehearsing to tear me limb from limb."

"I guess not."

"So, if you take those hooligans back to wherever you came from, I'll listen to you the next time you show up. No freaking out, I swear."

"Alright then," Mr. Unlucky said as he held out his right hand, which Billy shook in agreement. "Allow me to-"

However, Mr. Unlucky was interrupted by the door being blown up. As the smoke cleared, the trio appeared at the doorway wearing identical malicious grins. They teamed up and tackled Billy with weapons in their hands. Billy was cut up a bit before Mr. Unlucky could grab all three of them, but he was relatively fine. It was when Mr. Unlucky had the three in his custody that he began to worry.

"Remember our deal, Billy," the skeleton said as he disappeared with the three sullen children.

Billy could fix the damage in his house. It was his nerves that needed help. He had arranged to meet this character the next year. No only that, but anything Mr. Unlucky wanted, Billy had to supply, or else. This was perhaps the worst thing Mr. Unlucky had done to William Colby. Instead of just one day, his shadow loomed on Billy's thoughts every single day up until they would have their meeting. Billy would go insane, unless he got help.

Billy- Present

"That's why I'm here, Doc," Billy said. "It's almost time. I'm supposed to meet him in a few days. What am I going to do?"

"Meet him," Doctor Flaherty said.

"What?"

"You made a deal with Mr. Unlucky, Mister Colby. It's never a good thing to back out of a deal, unless it's with the Devil himself."

"But what if something bad happens?"

"Billy, maybe you need to hear what Mr. Unlucky has to say. It might reveal something you've been trying to hold back for years. You need to wake up and live a better life than one in fear."

"Talking to a skeleton will help me do that?"

"In your case, it may be so."

"Well, thanks for listening, Doc. It really helped my nerves."

"You're welcome. You let me know what happens with you and Mr. Unlucky."

"I will, Doctor Flaherty," Billy said as he got up, shook the man's hand, and left the office, passing Rosie on his way.

"About time. It's past closing time anyway," Rosie said.

"I hope I did him good, Rosie."

"You do everybody good, Doctor. Now you have to get home, and so do I."

"I suppose we do. Let's lock up."

Uh-oh. Something's brewing. What does Jack just have to reveal to Billy? Will it involve soul taking? Can it be that maybe, just maybe, this is all in Billy's mind? Only one way to find out, and that's by reading the next chapter. Oh, and I send a huge thank you to the person who pointed out the typo. I fixed it, and thank you for letting me know about it.


	9. Billy Finds His Place

Author's Note: This is it, my dear readers. This is the moment you've all been waiting for. What Jack has been trying to say is... oh wait, almost forgot the disclaimer. Jack Skellington was born in Tim Burton's head. He sings with the ever wonderful voice of Danny Elfman and made it big on the scene through Disney and Touchstone Pictures. Capcom is bringing the Pumpkin King back in game form. And me? I'm just using him for suspense, so he's not mine. Alas. (Re-edit comment: I can be so evil sometimes. It's wrong, but so much fun.)

Billy took Doctor Flaherty's advice to heart. He relaxed for the few days it took for Halloween to arrive. There was no use meeting Mr. Unlucky in an agitated manner. When Halloween did come, Billy left his home wearing a light jacket over his clothing and walked to the park. He sat down on a bench and watched parents guide their children to the houses located in front of the entrance. This was calming to Billy, watching the little children's faces light up when receiving candy and acting as if they were who they dressed up to be, whether theywere aliens or princesses to ghouls and spooks. Perhaps Halloween wasn't so horrible after all.

"About time you started seeing things my way," said the ever-familiar voice to Billy as he turned to see he was not alone on the bench.

"Do you always have to make some kind of grand entrance?" Billy asked as he leaned his back against the bench.

"I'm the Pumpkin King," said Mr. Unlucky with a grin. "It's a perk of the job."

"Is chasing people down every Halloween part of that job?"

"No, but you're a special case."

"How's that?"

"So you're curious now? Maybe I won't tell you."

"Listen, if you weren't already dead, I'd kill you."

"Do you negotiate this well with everyone?"

"Everyone who makes my life miserable for twenty years."

"Ah, you make a good point. But see, I have my reason."

"Which is?"

"Billy, if you want to continue this discussion, I suggest you take us to a secluded place. Other people can't see me and to them, you appear as if you're talking to yourself."

"You already know where I live," Billy said in a smarmy tone. "You can pull your disappearing act towards my place."

"I suppose so. Hold on to my hand and don't let go," Mr. Unlucky warned as he grabbed Billy's right hand.

Before Billy could object, he felt himself being dragged forward against his will. Faces of passers-by whirled past him as Mr. Unlucky entered his home. Billy needed a few seconds to regain his balance as he stood in his living room. The skeleton made himself comfortable as he sat down on the couch. Of course, Billy wasn't going to let him get too comfortable.

"Ok, we're alone. Now spill the beans."

"There are many of these beans you want me to spill. Where should I begin?"

"Why did you follow me that night when I was fifteen?"

"Ah, that night. I remember it. I was finishing up the celebrations in the Real World and was on my way home. That's what I do on Halloween, send tingles up people's spines and scare them out of their pants. It's fun," the Pumpkin King said with a nostalgic sigh. "Anyway, I stopped in your lovely cemetery because you called me."

"I did?"

"Well, not just you. If you recall, you and your friends were using a Ouija Board that night. You called the spirits and I replied. I couldn't resist, those always create such potential for fear."

"Why didn't you show up when they were there then?"

"I've always been a fan of good dramatic moments, and you were going to explode. You did."

"That wasn't an explosion."

"You cursed yourself. You proclaimed that you had no belief whatsoever in Halloween. You said that if you were wrong, you would submit yourself to a lifetime haunting."

"I know all of that," Billy said impatiently.

"Every good story needs a good background," the skeleton said bluntly. "I'm just setting the stage for what I have to say. You see, Billy, you were meant to curse yourself that night."

"Why?"

"I cannot answer that."

"You've got to be kidding!"

"Billy, there are forces in your world and mine that are greater than either one of us. The point is I was meant to meet you and tell you of your fate."

"You know my fate?" Billy asked. "Are you sure about that?"

"Mister Colby, do you want to know why I have been following you every Halloween or not?"

"I'm sorry. Go ahead, Mr. Unlucky."

"Please, call me Jack."

"Then get on with it, Jack."

"You may not know this, but I have been keeping a close watch over you every Halloween since you were very young. Yes, before you were fifteen. I had never shown myself to you because I felt you were not mature enough to see me yet. If you ever felt you were being followed while you were trick-or-treating or felt a shiver run down your spine, that was me. Perhaps I was the reason you never really liked Halloween since you were young. I apologize."

"You've always been watching me?"

"Just on Halloween. My world has certain constraints that cannot be broken, or bad things happen."

"But why me?"

"Every once in a while, someone is marked to join Halloween Town. It is a very rare occurrence. Our town is very sparsely populated, and everyone who is there came from this world. They were all watched and brought to Halloween Town to live in eternal celebration of the strange and spooky. You will one day join us."

"Join _you_? What about Heaven, Purgatory, even Hell?"

"You are exempt from all of them. Your spirit will come to Halloween Town."

"Why are you telling me this?"

"Sometimes, a soul refuses to come to Halloween Town upon death. They become lost and wander the Earth rather than accept their fate. It's sad, considering how great Halloween Town is. Your dislike of Halloween made you more likely to become a lost soul, and I couldn't let that happen. I followed you for your own good, to save your soul, not steal it."

"So you're telling me that all this time, all my life, you've been looking over me every Halloween. The reason you've been doing so is so you could one day tell me that I'm going to spend my afterlife with you and your community of weirdos? I don't believe you."

"I figured you'd still be in disbelief," Jack said as he got up and walked over to a mirror. "If you need any proof, look in the mirror."

Billy walked over to see that both he and Jack were visible in the mirror. Still, something was off in the reflection. It started with Billy's skin. It changed into a light blue, almost white hue. He became transparent, and almost seem to hover in place. His clothing was replaced with a black cloak which moved with the reflection. He tilted his head to make sure his reflection would do so, which it did. This made Billy jump back from the mirror, causing the mirror's reflection to become normal once more.

"What was that?"

"Your future. You have a real spirit, Billy. You will make an excellent specter. We've never really had one with this much potential."

"You didn't use any magic on me, did you?"

"No. I just allowed you to see your afterlife."

"And I have no choice in this?"

"Billy, have you ever really felt like you didn't belong here? Have you always yearned for something more? I have, so I definitely know the feeling."

"Yeah. But it doesn't mean I'm comfortable with becoming a spook."

"You will be someday. You'll see."

"When is that day?"

"Not for a good forty or fifty years."

"That's good to hear. Will I still see you?"

"Yes. Face it, you're stuck with me."

"I think I can get used to that, Mr. Unlucky, I mean, Jack. Will you still be around then?"

"Well, I can't let someone else scare you out of your pants."

"Fair. Hey, you better get on your way. Halloween's still young."

"You're right. I guess this is goodbye until next year."

"So long." Billy said as the skeleton disappeared.

Billy sighed as he sat down on the couch where Jack had sat moments before. In less than one hour, he had figured out more about his afterlife than any other living person he knew did about theirs. As far as he knew, his soul was going to Halloween Town. This meant some major adjustments in his attitude towards Halloween. He could start with the people currently ringing at his door.

"Hello, kids," Billy said to the pirate and his little sister dressed as a bumblebee.

"We heard you're the crazy guy that doesn't like Halloween. Is that true, Mister?" asked the pirate boy as he lifted his eye patch.

"Of course not. Wait right here. I'll get you two some treats."

His name is William "Billy" Colby. He is a semi-normal man from Wolf Creek, Kentucky. He used to hate Halloween, but not so much anymore. A skeleton he called Mr. Unlucky finally showed him what he was meant to be. Not everyone in the world can look forward to becoming a specter upon death and spending eternity in perpetual celebration. No, Billy is special. Billy is the guy from Kentucky, the one who had the Pumpkin King on his longest chase in his reign, and most important of all, the newest lover of Halloween.

As he passed out candy to children and made amends with the holiday, every figment of his being was happy. If he could be this happy in his eternity, Billy figured that Halloween Town would be better than heaven anyway. It would take some getting used to, but that was life was about. Billy still had a good chunk of it left and until that ran out, he would make Halloween the best day of his year and everyone else's. That in itself was proof of where he would one day belong.

The End

Thank you everyone who made this story a success! I hope I didn't disappoint you.


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